*Maddox*Elijah peers at the map on my desk, his hands tucked behind his back. His hazel eyes shine in the gray light pouring through the windows–another rainy, foggy, overcast day. We’re over the heat of the summer now. I’m thankful for it. It was an especially brutal summer, but given the brutality of the last year, I’m not surprised in the slightest. Ben sits in a chair nearby, flipping through a pamphlet I gave him. He looks up at me, arching a brow. For a moment, he looks like the male counterpart to my mate, that expression so much like Isla’s when she’s thoroughly suspicious of something. “It’s the most prestigious university in the packlands. I went there. Isaac will go there. And, you will too, if it’s what you want.” I watch as Ben flips a page and begins to read about the paths of study the Wellington Crest Institute offers. He could study law, history, art… or go the warrior route, but I doubt Ben would enjoy that rigorous course of study. I see him lingering on the his
*Isla*I lean forward, stretching out my front legs. Shifting feels euphoric, and Maddox is totally right about the fact that I need to do it more. Plus, I have two hours to myself. Well, myself, and Elijah. He stalks behind me, a massive black wolf with gleaming hazel eyes. His coat is thick but marred by scars, giving me a glimpse of his sordid past. For the past hour, he’s been following behind me but keeping distance between us, letting me take the lead. We’ve been weaving through the forest for some time now, but I come to stop at the towering oak tree overlooking the bluff that gives us a sweeping view of the lands below, small villages and towns glimmering in the early morning sunlight. I sit back on my haunches, staring absently over the bluff. The flowers we planted over the freshly turned soil atop Mystica’s grave tremble in the cool morning breeze. Poppy and I had chosen perennials, so they’d grow back every year. I’d planted roses behind her headstone that would one day
*Maddox*“Are you going to be a good girl for me while I’m gone,” I rasp into her ear. We’re covered in sweat, and I’ve been drawing out every minute of the last hour to make this last as long as possible for both of us. I’ve made Isla come at least three times, but I’m not done with her yet. It could be months before I see her again. “Probably not,” she whimpers, but her mouth curves into a devilish smile. I thrust into her, hard, and she arches her back, crying out softly as I continue to drag my cock in and out in a desperately slow motion. Her nails have left long red scratches down my back that I’ll feel for weeks. I hope I do. I hope I taste her on my tongue and smell her scent on my skin until the day I return home. “Please, Maddox,” she whispers, her nails digging into my sides. “I’m so close!”I pick up the pace, reaching between us to circling my thumb over her clit in a way I know will have her screaming my name in a matter of seconds. I rise up so I’m kneeling over her
*Isla*Maddox left Elijah with me, of course. It’s his responsibility as Beta to rule in Maddox’s place when he’s away. While I like Elijah and have come to appreciate his quiet presence in the house, I miss Maddox. It’s been almost three weeks since he left. We’ve spoken on the phone a few times, but a lot of the time he’s been out of range, and I’ve gone days without hearing from him. Elijah was also called away on a super secret mission during this time and came back in a huff. He was injured, too, scraped and bruised and in a piss poor mood for days. Trinity and I agreed to secretly press him about it, with Trinity doing the dirty work and me listening to whatever Trinity could find out about Elijah’s uncharacteristically emotional mood, but he was keeping his mate in the dark despite her most convincing efforts.It’s been an odd few weeks, to say the least. “He should be home soon, right?” Trinity asks from across the dining room table. She bounces Isaac on her knee, who is b
The girl standing before me is not what I expected. Emery stands, slowly clutching the bars as she peers at me through the darkness. The lightbulb hanging from the ceiling flickers as I pull up a stool and sit facing her, crossing my legs with my hands knitted in my lap. Elijah said not to let her out. I wonder why? I guess I’ll find out. I give her a minute to look me over. She doesn’t hide her curious gaze, unlike other people I’ve come in contact with lately. Hardly anyone looked me in the eyes during the Beta Trials, which was my first real event as Luna of the Alpha King. People shy away from me now, speaking to me only when I speak to them first, so on and so forth. “Alpha,” I say graciously, bobbing my head to her in greeting. She doesn’t startle. In fact, her full lips twitch into what is either an impressed, or sinister, smile. I can’t tell which. “Luna,” she says, but she doesn’t curtsy or bow. She grips the bars until her knuckles are white, like she’s trying to pry the
Seven Months Later…*Poppy*“What the hell is going on?” I hiss. I’m waddling as fast as I possibly can given how enormous I’ve become over the last few weeks. I feel like I’ve tripled in size–at least. What has also tripled in size is my attitude, according to Antony. He recently accused me of looking for a fight when I lost my mind over the last of the chocolate chunk ice cream with the brownie bits I liked being gone. In my defense, I’d been out of my mind with hunger and pregnancy cravings. In his defense, I had been the one to finish off the carton. That had been three weeks ago before all hell broke loose.My anger right now isn’t an exaggeration. Warriors rush through the castle as I stalk down the hallway toward his office and yank open the door. “Antony!”“My love,” he says with little emotion and an abundance of annoyance. “What happened to the warriors I had guarding your room?”“I killed them,” I deadpan, even though that’s far from the truth. I just screamed at them unt
*Isla*I roll my lower lip between my teeth as Maddox paces the deck. Nothing about this situation is good. Nothing about this situation is clear, either, and none of us have been able to get a hold of anyone on Maatua in two full days. Whispers of unrest on Maatua had been coming to us for months now. Maddox and I hadn’t known the unrest was a wizard, however, until four days ago when a frantic call from Antony had us hastily packing and out the door in less than an hour. We’d just celebrated Isaac’s first birthday the day before. I lean against the railing and bow my head, ignoring the salty spray of the violent ocean preventing us from moving in on the coast of Maatua. The kingdom is shrouded in black clouds, and the air is thrumming with electricity. I’ve never seen a storm like this before, especially one that is exclusive to the island itself. Where we sit in our boat, the sky is blue, and the water is relatively calm. Two days ago everything was fine. “He left,” Maddox bar
*Maddox*How did we get to this point? I feel like the past seven months have gone by in a blur of activity, yet this moment, this devastation, has caught us all totally off guard. Rage burns through me as I guide my pregnant, physically and emotionally exhausted, mate through what is left of the town that surrounds the castle of Maatua. The storm has passed, but heavy rain still floods the streets. I keep an arm around Isla’s waist to steady us both as water rushes past us, soaking us nearly to the shins. Elijah is carrying Emery on his back behind us, the two of them talking in hushed whispers that are inaudible over the sound of the rain pelting the gnarled debris that continuously blocks our path. And all of this for what? Is this really about the Goddess’s necklace that Isla had seen in a vision? A necklace tied to a story we know nothing about?Anger toward Mystica bubbles in my gut for no reason other than the secrets left in the wake of her death. Her strange gifts had kep
Misty“Wait, wait.” Georgia smooths her hands through her hair, riling up her curls. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and says, “Let me get this perfectly straight.”“Okay.” I curl my legs beneath me as I sit across from her in our bed. It’s been a few hours since Declan stupidly left the door jammed, but I haven’t made any moves yet. Instead, I told Georgia everything. I figured if I leave tonight to map the castle and get caught or killed, she’ll live on to at least tell my story.“We’ve been kidnapped by an underground secret society, and they’re responsible for the attack on TU,” she begins, raising a finger. “Nathan not only cheated on you, but is part of the order.” She raises a second finger.“Yep.”She frowns. “You think the order is trying to start a war with your family.”I nod, and sh
MistyI follow Cole through his… apartment, I guess. The layout of these suites is remarkably like the Firestone castle in Moonrise where my family has their own apartments within the castle. But this place is practically empty. Dusty and stale. If he has personal objects, they’re not here.I creep behind him, careful to keep at least a few feet of distance between us as he leads me into a bedroom that… smells like him.I hadn’t noticed before–his scent. It’s very clean and brisk. It’s hard to describe. I don’t dwell on it. Instead, I’m looking at his perfectly made bed–so perfect I wonder if he’s ever even slept in it.“Sit down,” he commands… gently, at least.“Why?”“Because you need stitches, and you’re very short. I don’t want to have to bend down the whole time.”“
MistyThe next morning, I’m summoned by Declan and his cronies. Dressed in my favorite brand of athletic shorts and a tanktop–my school uniform, basically–I walk steadily behind them, in iron chains over my silver manacles, and Declan keeps his distance.I’m hungry and tired but curious about what comes next, especially after last night. Georgia seemed okay this morning–quiet, a little dazed–but that’s expected. I’m sure reality hit her as we ate bland oatmeal together in the warm sunlight streaming through the windows that bathed the dust all over our apartment in gold.I feel chipper and ready to commit murder, however. Which is my plan. I feel like I’ll give Declan a pass, though, at least for now, since I damn near bit his cheek off yesterday. Still, I size up the two men standing at my sides. Gregory, an art history student, like Georgia, has dark skin and short, black hair. He&
MistyI pace in front of a set of wooden double doors. They’re etched with sweeping designs that’re a near perfect match to the doors littered throughout the castle in Moonrise. This place–this apartment within the castle–it’s beautiful. At least, it was likely very beautiful once. Everything is covered in dust as it stands. The glass vases scattered across nearly every surface probably held bouquets of tropical flowers at one point. Books used to line every shelf. Silk and satin draped over the massive canopy of the four poster bed in the main bedroom, I’m sure, and the bed was covered by silk sheets that smelled like rose oil, freshly cleaned.Now, this apartment is a shell with ancient furniture and cheap, slightly ratty linens covering the beds, chairs, and old couches.But I haven’t really explored, not while my mind races. Where is Georgia? How do I get out and find her? I’ll escape
ColeShe’s exactly what I hoped she’d be.Beautiful, sure. I knew she’d be beautiful. The soft, ocean blue of her eyes reminds me of the sky in the early mornings, when stars still dance toward the horizon until they’’re chased away by the sun. She’s dainty and graceful. She’s exactly what a princess should be, as long as she doesn’t open her fucking mouth… but she needs to keep talking. She needs to keep pissing off the Umbra Mortis. She’s the perfect distraction.I hate that I need her.I hate that she showed how useful she could be when she unleashed her powers in the library because she’s just as trapped as I am now. But she might be our only hope. My only hope.I sink behind the desk in the sliver of personal space I've managed to carve out for myself in this massive fortress built in the dead center of the desert. We’re hundreds of m
MistyDrip. Drip. Drip.I open my eyes to darkness, blinking it away. My body aches like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, but I’m alive. I’m alive, and in a dungeon.I rise to my knees, crawling to the bars that separate me from a dingy, damp hallway lit by flickering torches.I hesitate before gripping the bars, but it’s iron, not silver, thank the Goddess. I’m not sure how much more I can take… wait a minute.I lift my wrists to the torchlight. Twin silver bands–wide, and seamless–hug each wrist. They’re no chains between them. Nothing keeping me bound to the wall. Manacles. I immediately try to pull them off, but I can’t. It doesn’t hurt, though. I wedge a pinky between my skin and the manacle on my left wrist and feel… leather? Some type of barrier between the silver and my skin.Still, even without the silver restin
AvivaI’ve never been to Crescent Falls before. I imagined something different than quiet, somber hallways and hushed murmurs. I guess, in any other circumstance, we would have been able to drive here in a real car from the border with Eastonia, taking several days to travel through the sweeping plains of Moorn before reaching the mountainous, sprawling mecca of the capitol while Ryan told me stories about growing up in this fascinating place but that’s… not how this is happening.We arrived an hour ago to chaos. Now, I pace behind a couch, watching my mate lean into conversation with his twin brother Sydney and their father, Alpha King Isaac. Ryatt, the Alpha King of Eastonia, isn’t here. Neither is his wife and mate, Ella, Ryan’s aunt.Evander’s here, however, and he keeps stealing glances in my direction while I do my best to fade into Maddy’s floral wallpaper.One second, I&rsq
MistyGeorgia turns to the railing in awe. The students sharing our little alcove rise from their chairs in confusion as the books crash to the ground.My already thundering heart nearly stops, skipping several beats, and in that time, the first screams echo all the way down to us on the second to last floor, splitting the normally silent air into pieces. I stand, my chair falling over backward, as green-hued light blasts through the upper section of the library.“GEORGIA!” I scream, lunging for her as debris–a tangle of stone, books, and paper–cascade down the open space housing the staircase. A shockwave slams into us, knocking Georgia away from the railing and sending me backward into one of the racks, my spine singing in pain. More screams follow, growing in intensity, as I open my eyes to thick dust and the haze of magic I can taste on my tongue.Shadowed figures move down the staircase. Wolves
MistyBurning sunlight stuns me into alertness. I open my eyes to slits and promptly close them again. A dull pain spreads through my head, reminiscent of the type of hangover I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but that doesn’t make any sense. I’m standing in the damp, dusty corridor in the web-like underground beneath campus… right?I open my eyes against the light and stare blankly at the ceiling of my dorm room. Soft snoring echoes all around me. Ignoring the sickening pain in my head, I turn ever so slightly to look at the person who’s arm and leg are draped over my body, finding Georgia sleeping peacefully, still wearing her black dress. We’re in her bed on top of the bedspread, and one quick glance across the room shows me a tangle of cloaks and shoes separating Georgia’s section of the tight room from mine where Fia and Darby are fast asleep in my bed. I sit up. Georgia’s arm slips from my waist as I slide out of bed and walk on unsteady feet to the door, grabbing my shower k